"Metal Health" | ||||
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Single by Quiet Riot | ||||
from the album Metal Health | ||||
Released | November 1983 [1] | |||
Recorded | 1982 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
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Label | Pasha | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) | Spencer Proffer | |||
Quiet Riot singles chronology | ||||
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"Metal Health", sometimes listed as "Metal Health (Bang Your Head)", "Bang Your Head" or, as it was listed on the Billboard Hot 100, "Bang Your Head (Metal Health)", is a song by the American heavy metal band Quiet Riot on their breakthrough album, Metal Health . [4] One of their best known hits and receiving heavy MTV music video and radio play, [5] "Metal Health" was the band's second and final top 40 hit, peaking at #31 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Being about the headbanging phenomenon within the heavy metal subculture, the song caught the attention of many heavy metal fans on its release. [6] The single contained both the studio-recorded version and a live version, which was later released on their Greatest Hits compilation. The lyric, "well now you're here, there's no way back", eventually became the title for Quiet Riot's documentary, released in 2015. [7]
The main riff/structure of the song come from an older track entitled "No More Booze," which was originally performed by Snow, Carlos Cavazo and Tony Cavazo's pre-Quiet Riot band. A live version of this song can be heard on the At Last recordings, which finally received a release in 2017. [8]
Produced for $19,000 and employing students as extras, the music video was filmed in the Walt Disney Modular Theater and hallways of the California Institute of the Arts. [9] It features the masked man on the album cover breaking out of the asylum he is confined in. After taking off his mask, the man is revealed to be Kevin DuBrow who then joins the band and plays the remainder of the song.
Chart (1983-1984) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Singles (Kent Music Report) [11] | 84 |
Canada Top Singles ( RPM ) [12] | 48 |
UK Singles (OCC) [13] with "Cum on Feel the Noize" | 45 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [14] | 31 |
US Mainstream Rock ( Billboard ) [15] | 37 |
Publication | Country | Accolade | Rank |
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Rolling Stone | US | 20 Greatest Two-Hit Wonders of All Time [16] | 5 |
PopMatters | 36 Essential '80s Pop Metal Tracks [17] | 17 | |
Loudwire | The 11 Heaviest Hair Metal Songs [18] | 1 | |
LouderSound | The 20 Best Hair Metal Anthems Of All Time Ever [19] | 3 | |
VH1 | Top 40 Metal Songs [20] | 35 | |
The song was heard in the 2009 film Babylon A.D. , 1984 film Footloose and its 2011 remake. It was also used in the opening credits of the movies Crank (2006) and The Wrestler (2008), [21] and in a TV commercial for Hyundai first shown during CBS's coverage of Super Bowl XLVII on February 3, 2013.
"Weird Al" Yankovic performed the song as part of his 1985 polka medley "Hooked on Polkas" from his album Dare to Be Stupid .
The song was featured in the professional wrestling video game Showdown: Legends of Wrestling in 2004.
The song was featured in the 2006 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories on the fictional in-game radio station "V-Rock".
The song was used in the rhythm games Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks The 80s , Guitar Hero Live and Rock Band Blitz .
Quiet Riot is an American heavy metal band founded in Los Angeles in 1973 by guitarist Randy Rhoads and bassist Kelly Garni.
Toxicity is the second studio album by the American heavy metal band System of a Down, released on September 4, 2001, by American Recordings and Columbia Records. Expanding on their 1998 eponymous debut album, Toxicity incorporates more melody, harmonies, and singing than the band's first album. Categorized primarily as alternative metal and nu metal, the album features elements of multiple genres, including folk, progressive rock, jazz, and Armenian and Greek music, including prominent use of instruments like the sitar, banjo, keyboards, and piano. It contains a wide array of political and non-political themes, such as mass incarceration, the CIA, the environment, police brutality, drug addiction, scientific reductionism, and groupies.
Metal Health is the third studio album by the American heavy metal band Quiet Riot, released on February 28, 1983. The album spawned two hit singles: the Slade cover "Cum On Feel the Noize" and "Metal Health". It was the band's first album to receive a worldwide release, as the first two were released only in Japan.
Kevin Mark DuBrow was an American singer, best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Quiet Riot from 1975 until 1987, and again from 1993 until his death in 2007.
Francesco Felice Banali was an American rock drummer, most widely known for his work with heavy metal band Quiet Riot. His signature tone and iconic drum intros first became famous on their album Metal Health, which was the first metal album to hit number one on the Billboard charts and ushered in the 80's metal band era. He had been the band's manager since 1993. He had also played the drums in the heavy metal band W.A.S.P., as well as with Billy Idol. Banali was briefly a touring drummer for Faster Pussycat and Steppenwolf. In the last few months of his life, he was also an inclined painter.
Look What the Cat Dragged In is the debut studio album by American glam metal band Poison, released on August 16, 1986, by Enigma Records and Capitol Records. Though not a success at first, it steadily built momentum and peaked at #3 on the US Billboard 200 on May 23, 1987. The album spawned three successful singles: "Talk Dirty to Me", "I Want Action", and "I Won't Forget You".
QR III is the fifth studio album released by American Hard rock/heavy metal band Quiet Riot. It was released in 1986 on Pasha / CBS. It is the last album to feature lead singer Kevin DuBrow until the 1993 album Terrified.
Condition Critical is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Quiet Riot. Released in 1984, it was not nearly as successful as its predecessor in either fan reaction or sales. However, it did sell over one million copies, peaking at No. 15 on the US Billboard 200 album chart. Like the band's previous album, Condition Critical features a Slade cover song as the second track. While the previous album included a cover of "Cum On Feel the Noize", this album contains "Mama Weer All Crazee Now".
The Last Command is the second studio album by the American heavy metal band W.A.S.P., released on October 25, 1985. The album was produced by Spencer Proffer, who was perhaps best known for producing the six-time Platinum selling album Metal Health by Quiet Riot in 1983.
Down to the Bone is the eighth studio album by American heavy metal band Quiet Riot, released by Kamikaze in 1995. It was recorded at Ocean Studios, Burbank Calif., The Track House, Van Nuys, Calif., and Paramount Studios, Hollywood, California.
QR is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Quiet Riot, released on October 21, 1988. The album featured a major line-up change. Singer and founding member Kevin DuBrow had been fired before the recording sessions began, and replaced by Rough Cutt vocalist Paul Shortino. The band had fired DuBrow mainly because of comments he was making to the metal press about Quiet Riot's supposed superiority over other bands, which strained friendships that members of Quiet Riot had with those bands. Shortino's hiring was not the only line-up change, as Chuck Wright had quit the band and was replaced by Sean McNabb. This left the album with the distinction of being the only Quiet Riot release without DuBrow on vocals, or any other original members.
"Cum On Feel the Noize" is a song by the English rock band Slade, which was released in 1973 as a non-album single. It was written by lead vocalist Noddy Holder and bassist Jim Lea, and produced by Chas Chandler. It reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart, giving the band their fourth number one single, and remained in the charts for twelve weeks. The song was included on the band's 1973 compilation album Sladest. In a UK poll in 2015 it was voted 15th on the ITV special The Nation's Favourite 70s Number One.
"You've Got Another Thing Comin'" is a song by English heavy metal band Judas Priest. It was originally released on their 1982 album Screaming for Vengeance and released as a single later that year. In May 2006, VH1 ranked it fifth on their list of the 40 Greatest Metal Songs. It became one of Judas Priest's signature songs along with "Electric Eye" and "Breaking the Law", and a staple of the band's live performances. "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" was first performed on the opening concert of the Vengeance World Tour at the Stabler Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on 26 August 1982 and had been played a total of 673 times through the 2012 Epitaph Tour.
"Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" is a song by American rock band Aerosmith. It was released as the lead single from the band's ninth studio album Permanent Vacation in 1987. The song was written by lead singer Steven Tyler, lead guitarist Joe Perry and songwriter Desmond Child.
"Mama Weer All Crazee Now" is a song by the British rock band Slade, released in 1972 as the lead single from their third studio album Slayed? It was written by lead vocalist Noddy Holder and bassist Jim Lea, and produced by Chas Chandler. It reached No. 1 in the UK, giving the band their third number one single, and remained in the charts for ten weeks. In the United States, the song reached No. 76.
Chuck Wright is an American bassist, best known as a member of the hard rock/heavy metal band Quiet Riot. He originally joined Quiet Riot in 1982, playing bass on the tracks "Metal Health " and "Don't Wanna Let You Go," as well as singing background vocals on all tracks from the 1983 album Metal Health.
Mean Streak is the fifth studio album by American heavy metal band Y&T, released in 1983 through A&M Records. Tracks include "Midnight in Tokyo", "Sentimental Fool", and the opening track, "Mean Streak". The album peaked at number 103 on the Billboard 200 on October 27, 1983. This was the third of five studio albums released by A&M Records for Y&T.
"The Wild and the Young" is a song by American heavy metal band Quiet Riot, released in 1986 as the lead single from their fifth studio album QR III. The song was written by Spencer Proffer, Frankie Banali, Carlos Cavazo, Kevin DuBrow and Chuck Wright, and was produced by Proffer.
Infestation is the seventh and final studio album by American glam metal band Ratt. It is the band's first original effort since their self-titled album in 1999, and the first album since the death of Robbin Crosby in 2002. This is the only album to feature guitarist Carlos Cavazo, formerly of Quiet Riot. The band would enter a turbulent time after the edition of the album, and by 2018 all musicians in it had left the band, except lead singer Stephen Pearcy. It was released by Loud & Proud via Roadrunner Records, a then-sub-label of their longtime home Atlantic Records.